This weekend, I had the wonderful pleasure of spending time with one of the magic world’s living legends, Michael Ammar. Michael is one the most prolific authors & teachers of magic in the world, & his achievements are unequalled. As well as being only the 2nd American magician to win the Gold Medal for Close-Up Magic at the World Congress of Magic (FISM) in 1982, he has won 6 awards from the Academy of Magical Arts (the most that he is eligible for), and in a recent BBC ranking of the “10 greatest magic tricks of all time”, Michael’s rendition of “The Cups & Balls” placed him above Harry Houdini. In 1999, The Magic Magazine named him one of 100 most influential magicians of the century. His book, “The Magic of Michael Ammar”, became the fastest selling magic book in history; of course, I had my copy autographed! It was truly an honour & a privilege to learn & spend some time with him.
But here is some of Michael’s advice from his book that I want to share with you. In his chapter on “Making Magic Memorable – The Development of Style“, Principle Number 6 is:
Find one thing, and try to do it better than anyone. Becoming so good at that one thing, that whenever anyone, anywhere in the world talks about that one thing, they will say, “Yeah, but you should see Michael Ammar do that …”
So often, we get drawn into trying to be “the everyman”, or a “Jack of All Trades”, but what effect does that leave with your clients? It has been demonstrated time & time again, that working within a niche industry will provide far greater results than trying to serve everyone. Seth Godin & Michael Port are big advocates of finding & only working within your niche industry.
What is the service or product that you offer that is so fantastic & so undeniably ‘yours’, that when your clients talk about that subject, they say, “But you should really see how does it!”.
There are certain ‘tricks’ in my performance that I have worked on, rehearsed & performed so many times in my unique way, that when people watch another magician perform something similar, my name comes into the conversation. This is very disarming to the poor performer who has just performed the effect & is often standing right there!
So, perhaps from today, look at one part of your business or your industry that you make your own - it might be the way you answer the telephone, or the way you ‘wrap your package’, or the special notes you put on the bottom of a contract.
If you can consistently do that one thing, just one thing, in your own special & unique way, it is almost a certainty that your clients will talk about you over & over again – to their colleagues, friends & families.
While you’re here, why not watch Michael’s performance of “The Cups & Balls”?
